Taking a Ride - A one Shot
by starkat1978
Summary: In 2000 Bella Swan moves to New York and meets cocky firefighter Edward. Sparks fly at first but a family tragedy brings them closer together.


_Disclaimer: I don't own anything Twilight related. This is rated M for the lemon at the end. O/S shot for arashi wolf from vampygurl402. Happy Birthday!_

Taking a Ride – One shot

Winter 2000

Edward Cullen thought life was perfect or close to it. At 28 he had achieved the rank of Lieutenant in his firehouse. He had a wonderful family that included his parents, Carlisle and Esme, twin brother Anthony and sister Rose. Rose had married a few years ago to a high school football coach, Emmett, and produced want most likely be the only Cullen grandchildren, Tyler and Angela.

The reason that these two children were going to be the only grandchildren was twofold. The first being Anthony was a Roman Catholic priest and unlike that character in Saturday Night Fever he was at no risk of losing his faith. Tony, as his family called him, was a very happy man with the priesthood. Unlike his siblings who did their due diligence for the church, Tony lived and breath the faith.

Edward on the other hand was a lady's man through and through and swore he could never settle down with one woman. It wasn't that Edward didn't believe in marriage, he just didn't feel that someone out there that could keep his interest longer then the time needed to wine and dine her into bed.

As a fireman, Edward was a walking fantasy. He was 6'2 with copper colored hair and bright green eyes. In his physical prime, he had graced the NYFD calendar a couple of times. But the reality was it took a special kind of woman to accept the life that Edward was willing to offer and that was a lot of ask of any woman.

"Fuck man why did we get called," Edward asked, rubbing his eyes, as they drove their rig to New Presbyterian.

"We have the dubious distinction of being both firefighters and paramedics," his partner, Mike Newton answered, yawning. They had been called to an apartment for a microwave fire, which turned out to be nothing. But the 42 year man who lived there with his wife who made the call was turning grey. What started as a fire call turned into a medical situation with Edward and Mike starting to treat the man until for the ambulance came. Now they were following the ambulance to Presbyterian to give the report.

"Let's just give our report and leave," Edward said, "I'm wiped." They had worked a 72 hour shift and were ready to go home and get some sleep. And if there happened to be some female company beforehand well Edward wasn't complaining.

"Exhausted my ass Cullen – you're going to be a Hooligan's and blond first," Mike teased as he put the rig in park.

"Can I help it if blondes are more fun," Edward asked with an angelic smile that got him through 12 years of Catholic school.

"Not me – I prefer brunettes," Mike said smirking, looking over to where a young woman was walking in, "In fact I'm going to hit on that one over there."

Edward looked over were Mike was looking. He didn't get a good look at her face but he felt the oddest sensation, a combination warm bath and electric shock, when he saw her profile. She looked petite, slim, with dark hair that fell to her shoulders. From what he could tell she had very pale skin. But instead of looking sickly she looked luminous, almost like a pearl. All the sudden he didn't feel like blondes were more fun.

Edward looked at Mike and said, "Dibs!" Then jumped out of the rig before Mike could react.

Bella Swan had been at New York Presybertian now for 3 days as the new ER day supervisor. She had always been fascinated with healthcare but realized one summer after volunteering as a candy stripper she literately had no stomach for blood. Bella had fainted the first time she walked in and saw some poor guy bleeding out on the table. She found that by combining her passion for health with her computer skills she find a field in healthcare that she could do.

Bella had spent a year at Forks General Hospital after her graduation from UDUB researching master's programs and found a good one at Columbia University. Her job at the hospital would cover the tuition. So after thinking about it and talking it over it with her family she decided to move to New York. Her sister Alice and mother Renee had been all for it. Charlie, her dad, not so much but in the end he flew out with her and helped set up her place and got her a can of mace.

Her brother-in-law Jasper was more surprised that Charlie didn't try to push for a gun license for her. Both he and Charlie set up her small studio in Parkchester by the park. She loved her new apartment with the big picture window on the 6th floor. It was by the 6 train so she had easy access to the city and was about 20 minutes from school and work.

Now she was walking into the emergency room for her first official day on the job. She had spent the last two days in orientation and straightening out her benefits. Her new job was to help manage the admitting staff. They had a high turnover, one of the reason the management staff was willing to take on a few fairly young manager. Part of her job was to find the holes and help keep the ER staffed.

Mr. Banner, the administrative head was walking her to her new office. "Okay Bella – this is going to be your space," he said showing her the glorified broom closet that was now her workspace. At it least it has a door, Bella thought to herself. She had a lot prove in the next few months. Her manager Kate had taken a chance hiring Bella over more seasoned candidates, thinking that Bella's proficiency with computers would heavily benefit the department.

"Thank you Mr. Banner for everything," she said to the short man who had brought over from the education building.

"No problem and if you need anything please call," he said handing her a card.

She nodded as Kate came in. "You ready Bella," Kate asked.

"Yes – let's start," Bella replied, putting down her bag.

"Well I like the baptism by fire approach and you're about to get it first hand," Kate told her, "We just had 3 buses come in the staff is moving."

"Great," Bella said, anxious to get out there and see the registrars in action. Being an admissions registrar, especially in the ER, could be a thankless job. The clinical staff often got a lot of the recognition in the treatment while the registrars were seen as the paper pushers. A lot of people never take into action how difficult the job could be as you had the dubious responsibility of getting the patient in the system in a timely fashion and acting as a liaison between the family and the medical staff. Let's not forget the hotshot paramedics who were always yelling at the registrars to move faster. It was little wonder that registrars had a two-year life span before moving on.

As it was when Bella got on the floor she realized that the she was already seeing some of that behavior. It looked like a couple of the firefighters were harassing one of the younger female registrars.

"For fuck's sake Angela," the one with bronze (there was no other color to describe it) hair was yelling at the clerk.

"Christ, Cullen is in fine form this morning," Kate muttered.

"May I," Bella asked quietly.

Kate raised one perfectly formed blond brow at the younger woman. She was interested to see if Bella was as meek as she seemed.

"Good ahead," Kate told her.

Bella nodded and walked over to the trio by the movable computer. The blond man looked amused at his partner's treatment of the registrar. "Good morning – I don't believe we've met yet, I'm Isabella Swan," Bella said extending her hand to the clerk.

The clerk looked freaked when she realized that her new manager had caught her being berated by one of New York's bravest. "Angela Weber," she replied quietly.

"Nice to meet you – what's seems to be the problem," Bella asked, looking at the two firemen.

"Well Isabella," the bronze one said, Bella caught name off his uniform and realized this was Cullen, "We need to get out of here and Lauren is holding up things."

"I need to get finish adding in the demos and first responder info for the doctor," Angela explained quietly, "The copier is down."

Bella nodded realizing that no copier meant the staff had to do this all by hand. "Do you have a ticket number with IT," Bella asked.

Angela nodded and patted her pocket. "Okay," Bella said, "Give to me and I'll see where they're at with it. "

"Thanks," Angela said relieved. It had been wickedly busy morning so far with no lull in sight.

"You finish up your job – I'll do mine," Bella told her and turned to the men, "The issue is that Ms. Weber has to do this by hand since our copier is down. Can you give her a minute and I'm sure she'll have this done."

"Hey – wait," Cullen told her, "Wait – Izzy –"

"Isabella," Bella corrected, "Or Bella but never Izzy."

Newton snorted behind Edward. This scene was so worth Edward calling dibs on Isabella earlier. Edward shot him a look.

"Sorry, Bella," Edward said, "I'm sorry – I'm not trying to give Angela a hard time but we need to get back to the firehouse."

"I understand that but she needs to get that information to the medical staff so they can treat their patient," Bella replied like she was talking to her two year nephew.

Edward took a deep breath as he watched Bella speak. He could admire the way she was carrying herself but wondered for a minute would it take to push into her into bitch mode. Even before Kate married Garrett it hadn't been that hard to push her. Edward decided to see what happen if he tried to push her a little harder. Call it a throw back to the days that boys would drip the braids of the girls they had a crush on into the inkwell but he was curious.

"What she can't go find another one," Edward asked, crossing his shoulders, "You gotta have more then one copier in this hospital."

Bella took a deep breath realizing that guy was just an asshole. A gorgeous Adonis of an asshole but an asshole none the least. "What's your name," Bella asked.

"Edward Cullen," Edward said winking at her. That really made her skin crawl.

"Ok – Edward," she replied taking a deep breath, "Is that your firehouse across the street?"

"Yes," he answered, wondering where she was going with this.

"You're the first responder but didn't take the victim in," Bella said.

"Yes – be kinda of hard to fit in a fire truck don't you think," Edward told her.

"So to summarize your firehouse is across the street and you're only here to add to the report," Bella asked.

"Yeah," Edward replied, "Where are you going with this?"

"In the time you were harassing Angela you could have also ran across the street to use your copier when you already knew it was down because the medics responding already were aware of the situation. Angela and the other staff haven't had a break all morning," Bella told him, the other idiot started to laugh.

Edward smirked and shook his head. "That would break protocol," Edward told her finally.

"Yeah it would have but guess what harassing my staff isn't tolerated, especially when the person in question was trying to help you," Bella told him, "You got an issue grab me so my staff can focus on their jobs. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to get on the phone so we can get the copier fixed and make your life easier."

Edward watched as she walked back to her hallway, Newton was laughing his ass off. "I like her," Mike said

Edward just shrugged his shoulders, smirking. It had been a long time before any woman had stood up to him.

Bella spent the rest of the day observing the staff to see how they worked together after getting the copier fixed. She made a couple of realizations. There were four people working the day shift, Marcus Grimes, Jessica Stanley, Lauren Mallory, and Angela Weber. Both Lauren and Jessica were complaining about how slow Angela was. From what Bella could tell the reason that Angela was so behind all the time was due to the fact that Jessica and Lauren dumped their work on her.

They would take a case from the medics put their initials in the patient log and then give the patient to Angela to register. In fact from what Bella could tell what Lauren and Jessica did best was flirt with the doctors and firefighters when they came in. Bella confirmed it when she audited the patient log and compared it to patient audit in the system.

Bella told it to Kate when they spoke later that day. "I thought something was up," Kate said frowning, "Angela is always working on something."

Bella nodded. "I talk to them tomorrow," Bella told her.

Bella ended up staying at work until 8:00 so I could meet with the night supervisor, Seth Clearwater. He was a complete love, as gay as the day was long, but a complete love. He also confirmed my thoughts about Jessica and Lauren, having covered the day shift before Bella came onboard.

"If you met with them tomorrow make sure Kate is there," Seth warned me, "Lauren will try and turn it around. Jessica is okay if she's away from Lauren."

Bella nodded walking outside to the subway. One ride later she was back in her apartment with a ton of boxes waiting for her. The doorman had opened the door in her absence. Her formally empty apartment was now littered with boxes that needed to be unpacked. Bella got to work after calling her mom.

"Hey Mom," she said, "How are things?"

"Good sweetie – how is New York," Renee asked.

"Cold – I start school tomorrow," Bella replied, "How did Dad's physical go?"

"He has a colonoscopy tomorrow so he's grouchy," her mother said. Bella winced at the thought.

"Why does he need one," she asked.

"The doctor said your dad should probably get one now given his age," Renee replied. Bella wondered if she was getting the whole story. Her mother gave her the time of the procedure.

"Okay – well time I hope he feels better," Bella said, unpacking some glasses she had bought over the weekend.

"I will sweetie – take care – enjoy school tomorrow," Renee said.

The morning started much like the previous morning. Bella got up and took off with her book bag since class was starting that night. Things were busy and Bella ended up helping the staff whom was finding she pretty hands on, much to Lauren and Jessica's chagrin.

It came to a head around noon when she realized that Cullen was berating Angela again. He saw Bella and then turned to her.

Edward turned around annoyed, until he realized it was the brunette from yesterday, but frowned again. "Ms. Swan," he drawled out.

"Can I see you for a moment," he asked.

"Sure – let's go to my office," Bella replied, showing him the way.

Once they got in, Edward started to complain. "Okay Ms. Swan – like I said yesterday, I'll try it your way. I have a problem so I'm coming to you. Angela is the worse employee you have on staff."

"Lietautant Cullen," Bella said, breaking Edward's tirade and grabbing some paperwork from her desk, "What is your basis for conclusion here?"

Edward looked at her wondering why Bella was breaking out the SAT vocabulary. He had taken the SATs and had a college degree. It pissed him off that she was one of those suits who thought he couldn't understand English.

"Ms. Swan – _my basis of conclusion,_ comes from the fact that I've been here for 10 minutes and my paperwork isn't complete," Edward replied, "What are you going to do about it?"

"Lt. Cullen did you noticed me when you came in," Bella asked patiently.

"No – why," Edward asked.

"I was standing by Eric when you came in. You gave your paperwork to Lauren. She should have registered your patient. She passed her work to Angela who already had a patient. Here is Angela's productivity report and here is Lauren's. Still think she's slow," Bella asked raising an eyebrow.

Edward looked at the paperwork and realized that Bella was right. Bella continued, "In case you haven't notice, Angela also registers the paperwork while Lauren flirts with you or the other men on staff."

Edward winced. "I'm so sorry," he said finally.

"Don't apologize to me – apologize to Angela," Bella said.

"I'm sorry – really," Edward replied, "Let me make it up to you – can I take you out to dinner?"

Bella's eyes bulged for a minute. She hadn't dated anyone since Jake and she had no desire too either. "No thank you," Bella said opening the door.

Edward looked at her shocked. No woman had turned him down. Ever. With the exception of Kate because Garrett had hooked up with her first.

"Are you sure – you're new here right," Edward asked.

"I have class," Bella replied

"What are you studying?" Edward asked

"Health Administration, and Mr. Cullen I need to get back to work," Bella said pointing to her door.

"Yeah Edward I'm not paying you to flirt with my employee," Kate said coming in, "Ready Bella?"

"Let's do it – Edward would you mind asking Jessica and Lauren to come in on your way out? I'm sure they're going to say good bye before you leave," Bella said sweetly.

"Uh sure," Edward replied realizing this was the 2nd time in two days he was being shot down

After that awkward ending, Jessica and Lauren came in next. Bella spelled out what she expected and Kate backed her up. Jessica looked scared and promised to stop giving her work away. Lauren looked resentful and claimed that Angela had rigged the computer system somehow.

Bella had a massive headache but was rewarded with the site of Jessica working hard even though Lauren was still acting the same. The rest of the week went the same way. Bella's father had his test and they were waiting for the results. She started her school and got her assignments.

Friday was the day everything changed. Bella was in a meeting when her phone rang about 1:00. She hit ignore but it started to buzz with a text. Curious she opened it up and there was a text message waiting for her from Alice.

"_Bella – call home – Dad sick – emergency."_

Bella got up and excused herself. Renee picked on the first ring. "Bella," she said crying.

"Mom – what's wrong," Bella asked.

"They found a tumor in Dad," Renee explained, "He's got colon cancer. He's having surgery tomorrow morning."

"Oh God," Bella gasped as her mother gave her the details, "I'll be on the first flight home."

"Thanks Baby," Renee said as they hung up.

Bella went back to the meeting as people were starting to leave. She walked over to Kate and explained what was going on.

"Bella – go home – we got this," Kate told her.

"Are you sure," she asked.

"Absolutely," Kate replied, "Family 1st."

Edward noticed Bella running to her office and shutting the door. "Everything okay," he asked.

"Who cares – I just wish she would go away," Lauren said, frowning at her paperwork.

"She's not so bad," Angela replied, focusing on her work.

"You would," Lauren muttered. Bella had been right, Edward thought, Lauren was a slowest registrar here and he now the great misfortune to have her working on his patient right now. He couldn't wait until Liam came back from vacation and he go back to the fire station full time.

"Don't listen to her Angela," Ben, Edward's partner for the day, said.

She blushed a little and Edward realized she had a crush on the medic. He would talk to Ben because he seemed to really like her too.

Bella rushed out of the room about an hour later, turning to the staff she said, "I'm leaving early – please call Kate if you need anything."

"Hey – wait," Edward called out. His shift had been over after Lauren did that last patient so he decided to hang around.

"I'm in a hurry – if it's urgent page Kate," Bella replied, not turning around.

"Where are you going – I can give you a ride," Edward running to catch up with her.

"The La Guardia – don't worry – thanks Edward," she said replied, "I have a flight in an hour and a half."

"Don't be ridiculous – you won't make it if you take the train and bus," he called out knowing that she hadn't accounted for the time she would have to wait for the bus.

"Look – I'm in hurry," Bella said turning around the last of her composure slipping, "My dad is really sick and I don't have any fucking time for games."

Edward could see how could Bella was to breaking down. "I swear Bella – I'm not playing games with you," he said, putting his hand on her arm. And Edward meant it. For the first time in his life, he wanted to help a woman and not because some sexual strings were attached.

"No tricks?" Bella asked, the cold and her stress wearing her down.

"No tricks," Edward promised, "I'll give you the keys to my car."

Bella finally relented and they got into Edward's 1998 silver Silverado. "Can I ask you what's wrong with you dad," Edward asked quietly.

"He's got cancer," Bella said quietly, "Colon cancer. He quit smoking a couple of years and has always had a shitty diet."

"I'm so sorry Bella," Edward replied, thinking of his grandfather who had suffered from prostate cancer a couple of years before.

She nodded just looking out the window. There wasn't much for the two of them to say. "How many brothers and sisters do you have," Bella asked all the sudden desperate for something other then her thoughts to keep herself occupied.

"A brother and sister," Edward answered, "how about you?"

"One sister, her name is Alice. She's studying fashion at Cal Arts," Bella replied, "She's engaged to one of my friends from high school, Jasper. He's a lawyer."

"My sister Rosalie is a stay at home mom but was a teacher before that. She married my best friend Emmett," Edward told her, "My brother Anthony is a priest"

They bantered like that all the way to La Guardia. "Are you coming back," Edward asked as he pulled into the parking garage. He figured he would keep her company until she got on her flight.

Bella nodded. "Yeah – Monday 6:00 – I have the red eye from Port Angeles," Bella explained, "Edward what are you doing?"

"I thought I'd keep you company until you got on the plane," Edward answered, "You're doing me a favor. I have nothing to do but laundry."

"I think you're full of crap," Bella replied dryly, "But thank you."

Edward smiled and made sure she got something to eat before getting on the plane back to Washington. Something happened today and he wasn't sure what it was but one thing was sure he was in unfamiliar territory.

For one thing, one of his _friends_ or easy lays as Rose called them, called his cell on the way back to the city. Tanya the strawberry blonde with six foot long legs with amazing yoga skills called him and wanted him to meet her at the bar. He blew her off saying he was too tired. A first for him since he never say no to good sex and beer. In fact he spent the entire weekend checking his email obsessively to see if Bella wrote him other then the text message she had sent when she left.

Bella spent the weekend with her family trying to figure out what to do next. Renee's friend Sue Clearwater owned a travel agency she had helped Bella get the ticket to go home. Bella had decided on the way home that she was going resign and go back to Forks, especially when the doctor delayed the treatment regiment that her dad was going to experience. After the surgery her day was looking at 12 weeks chemotherapy. Not good.

She informed her mom about her choice and her mom balked at the idea. "Bella," Renee said looking at her, "Don't be ridiculous. Your father would be furious if you did anything like that."

Charlie agreed when he heard what his daughter was planning. "Absolutely not Bella – You worked too hard to get where you are," his cop voice boomed.

Bella argued with everyone that weekend about her plans until she spoke with Kate. "Bella," Kate said, "How about this? Why don't you telecommute one day a week? If you could swing financially you could fly out Thursday."

Bella knew she could swing it financially since Sue had the connections to get her cheap airfare. Her classes were Mondays and Wednesdays. Her parents weren't thrill about her travelling so much, they were worried about her health, but they agreed it was a good thing to help Renee out.

Bella made some another call to Kate who worked out some of the details and she was on the red light back to New York. She went out into the cold January morning when she heard a beep. Lifting her head she saw Edward's truck with a uniformed Edward in it.

And that was how it began. Every week, Edward would take Bella to the airport on Thursday nights. They would sit in traffic for an hour on the way to La Guardia or JFK, depending where Sue got the tickets and hang out with her until her flight boarded. Then on Monday morning, Edward would be there to pick her up.

Bella was a walking zombie on Monday mornings, Edward was truly concern for her and made sure she had a cup of coffee waiting her for her. Each week they made it a point to learn something new of each other. For instance Edward now knew that Bella was interested in someday starting her own her healthcare informatics business. She was 23 years old and had one serious boyfriend. Bella found out that Edward was a 4th generation firefighter. He was 28 and his last serious girlfriend was in high school.

They found they had a lot in common. Family was their primary focus in their life. They were dedicated to public service, especially in emergency care. That's what they admitted to themselves. What they didn't talk about was the growing attention between the two of them.

Edward realized the 2nd weekend that he had driven Bella was he really liked her as a person. The attraction as there, as different as Bella was from his usual type. It was a strange combination like wanting to sleep with your best female friend. That movie from the 80's _When Harry met Sally _ came to mind when he thought about Bella. Edward realized he wanted to more with Bella and their 5th drive. On his 6th drive he called his dad for advice who said just hang tight.

Bella realized that she was attracted to Edward as well. Unbeknownst to Edward, Bella had been coming off a six-year relationship when she moved to New York. Her boyfriend Jake had broken up with Bella right after their college graduation. He wanted to see the world and see new people. Bella just didn't fit into his life anymore. It was devastating for Bella since Jake had been her first everything. Given what she knew about Edward, she wasn't exactly thrilled about all the experience he had. He seemed like Jake ala dos.

Twelve weeks of traveling definitely had taken its toll on Bella who was struggling to keep up but she realized that Edward played a huge part in keeping her sane. It wasn't just the rides to the airport it was the kindness he showed to her by calling her in California to see how her dad was doing which wasn't great. Her dad reacted badly to the chemo. Edward also checked up on her during the week to see if she needed anything.

Spring came into Manhattan in12 weeks after Charlie's diagnosis and his prognosis was good. Renee was going to have a big party for in a few weeks. Bella was signing termination paperwork for Lauren when Edward walked into her office. Lauren had never taken what Bella had told her that first week to heart and Bella found that she was hiding the patients' documents to give the appearance of looking busier.

"Whatcha ya doing," Edward asked, putting down a sandwich he had picked up for Bella. On drive number 4, Edward found that Bella's favorite sandwich was a pastrami.

"Lauren – we fired her today," Bella replied rubbing her templates. The whole episode had given her a migraine.

"Ouch – how did she did it," he asked.

"Terribly – I thought we were going to have to get the police in here. Tim the security guard wasn't enough to calm her down," she explained, signing the last of the papers.

"What are you doing this weekend since you're not rushing back to Forks," Edward asked playing with his jacket.

"Other then hiring a security detail to make sure Lauren isn't trying to off me," Bella joked, "Not much – just catching up with all stuff I haven't done. I don't think I've even grocery shopped since this whole thing with my dad started."

"If you don't have any plans my parents really want you come to our bar this weekend." Edward asked.

Bella took a deep breath, not exactly helping Edward's confidence. "Why would they like me to come – they don't even know that I exist," Bella asked.

Edward took a deep breath thinking about all the talks he had with his mom about Bella. "They know you've become a good friend," Edward said honestly, "And frankly I would like you meet my family. My brother is coming back from Rome."

She looked lost in thought for a minute. "What time would you like me there," Bella asked finally. Edward released the breath he was holding.

"I could pick up you at 2," Edward replied, "My parents house is in Far Rockaway."

"That's off the A train," she asked.

"Yeah – last stop," Edward answered.

"Okay – give me the address and I'll meet you there," Bella said, giving Edward the message she as going as a friend not a date.

"No problem – the barbeque starts at 4," Edward replied.

"What can I bring," she asked.

"Just yourself – my mom knows you haven't been home in the last few months," Edward answered, "Can I at least give you a ride home?"

"Sure – I'm beat," Bella, said getting up.

The next day Bella got up early, not having slept well. Her mind had been racing all night, thinking of Edward, thinking Jake. She knew that Edward had invited her because he wanted something more then her. Hence why she didn't want to encourage him by accepting this ride. Bella thought back to the last night she had seen Jake and his clumsy apology about leaving her. If she couldn't hold on to Jake what made her think she could hold on to Edward. Edward had women falling over him and she didn't delude herself to think that Edward was waiting for her while she was in Forks.

She looked over the boxes in her apartment, containing her furniture and realized she had yet to unpack all her things or build all the items. Bella had been living like a gypsy the last few months. Getting up she started unpacking the boxes so she could get at least get started. Bella did that until 11 when she stopped to get ready.

The weatherman reported 78 degree day so Bella grabbed a blue sundress and a white cardigan to wear. With a pair of strappy sandals, she grabbed her bag and left her apartment. Bella a grabbed some sunflowers got on the subway.

Edward drove up to JFK around 3:00 to grab his brother Anthony who was coming back from seminary studies in Rome. "Hey Ed," Anthony said coming out of customs.

"Tony," Edward said hugging his brother tightly. Tony was going to be back in New York for a couple of years, having gotten a spot in a Morningside Church. The reason for this barbeque was a welcome home for him.

"Okay – we're going to do this," Anthony asked as they got into Edward truck.

Edward smirked and smiled. He and Anthony were completely identical twins without one blemish to tell them apart. Even their mother had a hard time if they got the same haircut and wore jeans and t-shirts.

Every time one of them came back from a long trip, they made it a point to get the same haircut, get a professional shave and Anthony took off his collar and put on civilian clothes. Edward imagined the look of confusion Bella's face when she saw them.

Bella in the mean time had arrived at Esme and Carlisle's home. Esme and Rose, Edward's sister, had grabbed her right away. In fact Emmett, Rose's husband gave her a bear hug. "You're Ed's girl," he said right away.

"Emmett – stop you idiot you're going to make her sick," Rose said elbowing her husband. If Rose hadn't been so kind to Bella, she would have been intimated. Rose was a 5'8 blond bombshell. In fact the entire family was gorgeous. Carlisle was extremely handsome with blond hair and blue eyes like his daughter. His charm however, let's just say, Bella knew where Edward got it from.

Esme had looks of a movie star from the golden age of Hollywood with her auburn hair and green eyes. Hence Edward's coloring. Her daughter obviously inherited her mom's disposition. Emmett was a huge guy, 6'5 with a ton of muscle.

Bella found out Emmett had played football with Edward in high school and was a football coach at the school now. He, Edward, and Anthony, the one brother Bella hadn't met yet, were the same age. Apparently when Edward and Anthony realized Emmett was dating Rose they had a massive fight. Rose had a picture of them in the emergency room somewhere. Rose was two years younger then the twins making her the baby. Edward apparently as the middle child as Anthony was four minutes older then him.

Bella was playing with Rose's kids when she heard Emmett say, "Oh for fuck's sake you think those two assholes would have enough of that stupid game already."

"Language," Carlisle said shaking his head. Bella looked up at the patio and realized that Edward and his brother were walking into the backyard. Each man was wearing an identical smirk.

Bella got up and walked to over to Anthony. "Hi – I'm Bella – I've heard a lot about you," she said smiling.

The man looked her and grinned, a regular one, not the panty dropping one Edward had. "I'm Anthony – call me Tony please. Ed stop looking at her like fish, Dad taught us better. Bella let me say hi to my folks and I'll give you the 50 cent tour."

The rest of the family started at Bella and she blushed wondering what was so weird.

Edward just stared at Bella as Tony greeted their folks and grabbed Bella to take her back.

"Holy shit – how the hell did she do that," Emmett said scratching his head, "You're been pulling that shit since kindergarten. She didn't even hesitate – she just went for it."

"Search me – my mother can't even do it half the time," Edward replied my disbelief being overplaced by jealous. Yes – good old fashion jealousy as he watched his brother the priest that had his calling at age 11 take the object of his affection on a goddamn tour of their childhood home. Something Edward suddenly wanted to do, starting with his bedroom so they could have an impromptu make-up session.

Rose turned to Edward and said, "Marry her and marry her now. She's fabulous and we like her more then you."

"Rose," Esme admonished, "Tack please. But seriously darling she's amazing just like you said."

"Thanks Mom – I just wish she would see me the same way," he told her.

Bella and Tony walked out a couple of minutes later to rejoin the party. Tony walked back to his brother. "Okay – we'll have lunch on Wednesday," Tony asked her as Bella turned to help Esme and Rose.

"Absolutely," Bella replied, "I could really use the extra help."

"She's great man," Tony told him, "I can see why you love her so much."

"Yeah – well why the fuck are you giving her tours of the house if you know how much I like her," Edward said childishly.

"Ed – calm down," Tony told him, their father had turned his head and was coming to him.

"Don't tell me to calm down – you're a priest for Christ's sake," Edward hissed, "Why are you hitting on her?"

"I'm not hitting on her. I'm helping with the hospital's blood drive," Tony replied coldly and Edward felt like a grade A dick. Tony had helped with the parish drives a couple of times and spoke Spanish. Bella needed some help with translating some of the pamphlets into Spanish.

"Sorry," Edward muttered.

"And I'm a fucking priest. If you like her so much ask her out," Tony told him annoyed.

Edward closed his eyes, hoping no one else heard his tantrum. His dad was staring at him. "Dad I'm going to lie down for a minute," Edward said, "I don't feel well."

Carlisle nodded. "You know what they say Edward, it's better to love then to never have loved at all," he said.

"What the fuck does that mean," Edward snapped, "I'm not in love with her, I have a stupid crush. Hell it's irrelevant because she definitely doesn't feel the same way.

"It means Edward you're being a coward. You have no problem running into a burning building but you have a problem asking her out," Carlisle replied, "Look I get it – nobody gets it better then me. It took 17 turndowns and a pretty spectacular 'hell no' to get your mother to go out with me but it worked."

Edward remembered the stories of what a lady's man his dad had been "I'm going to lay down for a minute," Edward said, "I have a headache."

"I know – lay down and then have a burger," Carlisle replied putting a hand on his son's back.

Neither man noticed Bella in the background.

Edward went to the childhood room that he had shared with Tony. A little while later there was a knock on the door. "Yeah," he called out.

"Hi," Bella said quietly, "Dinner is almost ready. Can I ask you favor?"

"Sure what," Edward replied, wondering she wanted him to with the blood drive as well.

"Can you give me a ride back home," Bella asked quietly.

Edward was taken back for a minute. "Uh – yeah – I'm dropping off Tony first," Edward replied.

"That's fine – uh would you like to have dessert? There's a good coffee shop under my building," Bella asked, hoping she wasn't setting herself up.

"You want to have coffee with me," Edward asked confused.

"Well – I hate coffee – I'll have tea," Bella replied.

"You hate coffee but you always drank what I brought," Edward asked dumbly after a minute.

"You were so sweet about it," Bella replied taking his hand.

Edward's heart rate picked up. "You heard me and father didn't you," Edward replied hoping this wasn't some pity thing.

"Yes," Bella admitted, "But that's not reason. Not really. My last relationship ended badly Edward. I thought my boyfriend was going to propose to me. The signs were there. We had talked about it. Then Jake told me I wasn't enough and that he needed to see the world before settling down. He wanted to experience new things, namely women, and asked me to way for him."

Edward looked at her. "Let me get this straight. He had you – the world's most perfect woman and he want permission to sleep around and come back to you," Edward asked

"Well – I'm not sure about the perfect part but yeah in nutshell," Bella replied, starting to feel embarrassed.

Edward pulled her to him gently and tilted up her chin. "He was a fool Bella," Edward said, "I love you. I have since the moment you told me off at work."

With that he bend his head and kissed her. His lips gliding her hers, tracing the outline of her lips with his tongue. They continued for a minute. "I'll have coffee you let me take you out properly tomorrow," Edward told her after they broke apart gasping.

"If you come with me to see my dad – I'd like to introduce you," Bella replied, hugging him close.

_2014_

Captain Edward Cullen walked into his house after another shift. It was past midnight when he walked in but he knew that Bella would be waiting up for him. Having been married for 12 years, together for 14, they knew each other's movements.

Bella had decided to make her move permanent six months after she and Edward had gotten together. It hadn't been an easy road for the two of them since Edward had been by himself for so long that he forgot to let Bella know about changes in plans. With Bella's insecurities it had taken a while to get a rhythm down that worked for both them. Making friends with some of the firefighter's wives, namely Kate had helped Bella.

Charlie had passed away three years after his diagnosis the cancer in lungs had been missed. He survived long enough for to walk Bella down the aisle and see her first child be born. Alice and Jasper had moved to Boston as he was given the chance to have a partnership in a law firm. Renee ended up moving to Connecticut to be equal distance to both her daughters.

Edward proposed to Bella one month after 9/11. He had planned to do it on New Years. Hell he had bought the ring the first month after they had started dating. He realized one morning a couple days after the tragedy while going through rubble, the first person he had called was Bella not his mom or brother. Bella was volunteering out during her off time to make sure the firefighters and police had something eat and drink during the back breaking work.

October they finally had some down time together Bella came to Edward's apartment after work. Edward had covered the place in tea candles and rose petals. After Bella stopped being confused she saw Edward kneeling front of her with a beautiful cushion diamond with a halo of smaller diamonds platinum ring. It was stunning.

_October 2001_

"_Bella – I wanted to marry you since you told me off in that lobby," Edward said, tears in his eyes, "I know I'm a giant pain in the ass sometimes but I love you fully and completely. Marry me."_

_Bella got down to his level and looked him the eyes. For a minute Edward wondered if he was going to be turned down. "Yes – yes – I love you too," Bella said, tears in her eyes as well._

It had been a hard year with Charlie getting sicker. Since Bella wanted Charlie desperately to walk her down the aisle they agreed to have a small wedding her hometown with Edward's family. Edward and Bella didn't care about size they just wanted to be married. Tony performed the ceremony at First Beach six months after they were engaged.

It turned out to be a good thing since they came back from Hawaii with honeymoon baby. Apparently antibiotics and the pill were a bad combination. Their first daughter, Charlotte Esme was born January 2003. They made special trip to Forks for the baptism so Grandpa Charlie could see it.

Since Edward had made captain, they decided that Bella would quit so she could spend time with their growing family. That family swelled to include two more daughters and a son. With four kids, Bella had decided to go back to school for her doctorate. She wanted to teach at the college level once their youngest Vanessa started kindergarten. Bella had gotten a job teaching part time at the SUNY by their home and had started her own business. All areas of her life were flourishing. The extra income was pretty great too. It was allowing them a much-anticipated trip to Disneyworld for the upcoming spring break.

Edward dropped his gear and checked on his kids in age. First Charlotte, then Sarah, Alex their son, and then Vanessa. Finally he got to his bedroom expecting to see Bella working on her laptop. Instead when he got there he was Bella sitting on their bed in a black and red lace corset with a matching a thong and God help him a set of stockings with garters.

"Bella," Edward, his 42 year old cock rising like a 16 years seeing his first set of breasts.

"Edward," she replied in the same tone, "lock the door baby – we can't afford therapy bills if the kids walk in."

Numbly he did want she said. Getting up Bella walked over to him and ran her fingers down her husband's chest. Moving her hand down, Bella started to kiss him hard. Out of instinct, Edward started to run his hands up and down his hands, feeling the lace in of the corset.

"Uh uh," Bella tsked at him, "No touching just yet."

Edward thought he was going to bust his load when she started to move down his body to his balls. Moving down to his crotch, Bella unzipped his pants and pulled his cock out. "Hmm – I missed you," she said, putting her mouth on him.

Edward closed his eyes and she felt put his massive length in her mouth and started to swirl her tongue around his dick. She was caressing his balls the way he liked it and he could feel the tightening his belly.

"Bella – be careful – it's been two weeks," he said remembering how everyone had the flu last week and the two of them had been on nursing detail. Anymore of that and he was coming.

Bella looked up at him and winked with his dick in her mouth. One more swirl in her mouth and he came loudly. Swallowing, Bella stood up, wiping her mouth. "Some how I think you can go another round so what about me," Bella said seductively kissing her husband.

Edward growled and picked her up, not caring that his dick was hanging out of his pants. Getting to their bed he threw her down roughly and started to his way down her belly, getting to her thong and pealed it off.

"These stay on," Edward told her, rubbing his hands on her stockings.

Bella moaned feeling the friction for his hands. "I wanna fuck you with them on" she panted, turned on from the blow job she gave him earlier.

Edward took a minute to look at her mount and realizes she had been to the spa. Bella didn't like to go completely bare but she had her hair trimmed down and in a nice triangle. The smell of her was making him crazy. He wanted her too much and flattened his tongue, taking a long lick of her slit.

"Oh Edward," Bella cried out grabbing his head he continued to lick clit.

"Feel it Bella," he demanded adding a thumb to her g-spot. It was going to be quick as she could feel herself tighten up again.

"Fuck," she cried as she came around his thumb. During sex was when Bella really curse and it was as hot as hell.

He wanted her come in fascination, loving what she looked like when she came. It almost enough - almost. Edward wanted to be balls deep in his wife's body.

Waiting a minute, he kiss his way back up her body. "Ride me," he demanded, "I want to see those perfect tits."

Moaning again, Bella twisted up, and settled on Edward's cock, both of them moaned at the contact. One quick and top popped down exposing her breasts. "Sudden I take it off or keep it on," Bella asked innocently.

"On," he replied guiding her hips.

Slowly at first, they picked up the rhythm. "Edward," Bella chanted, bobbing up and down him, "Oh God."

"Oh fuck – you feel so good," he said, moving his hand to put pressure on her clit. He wanted her to come again.

"Ohh," Bella moaned again as she felt, the pressure exquisite, "Fuck – fuck – fuck."

"You got it baby," Edward said switching them so he was on up and Bella's legs were around them.

"Move harder," she begged.

"Look at me," he said, starting to pound harder feeling himself come in her.

His release was enough to trigger hers. "Edward," she cried as he collapsed on her.

He moved and pulled her on her him.

"That was great baby but what brought that on," he asked after a minute.

"I looked at the calendar today and realized this was first day you gave me a ride," Bella replied thinking of the day her life change.

"I love you Bella," Edward said after a minute, thankful of the twist of fate bringing them together

"Love you too," Bella said as she started to drift off to sleep.

_**AN: Thank you for taking the time to read. I might eventually expand this into a full story. I got back to my other WIP on Monday – thanks for everyone's patience!**_


End file.
